One final thought about Bristol

LouieLouie

LouieLouie

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I'm not sure how everyone else feels but I thought the racing at Bristol was pretty good this weekend. There seemed to be some side by side racing and cars seemed to be able to pass one another. There is still room for improvement but overall I thought it was one of the better races of the year.
That being said, I thought it was a subpar Bristol race, meaning that the typical frustration of the drivers didn't seem to exist and of course there were no bump and runs. Overall it seemed like there was very little contact between cars.

So in summary, I thought it was good racing for NASCAR but not so good for Bristol. Also, I would like to see this kind of racing at the cookie cutters, but I want to see the bump and run/chrome horn at Bristol.

What say you? And am I crazy for thinking that we might be able to get back to that old style of Bristol racing with the bump and run?
 
Nascar is trying to please the fans by taking away the down force in cars. Now they put glue on the track so the cars with no down force will stick better. Seems to me this is only to help the also rans keep close enough so they can all be bunched together at the next caution.
Cars raced at Bristol for 50 years, why do they need to add a glue to help them race now??
 
I think the primary reason you didn't see much bump and run is because you had two viable racing grooves. No need to hit somebody when you could just pass them. I thought the racing was the best all season, even though it didn't look like the old days at Bristol where the ONLY lane was the bottom, and you booted people up out of the way, ala Jeff and Rusty. Either way is better than what we had a few years ago when the middle was the only groove. That sucked.
 
This should be the only final thought about Bristol.

images
 
Touché Simple Fan.

Seeing 3 wide at times at Bristol is just hard for me to get use to after
so many years of the 1 groove "old" Bristol. I guess the consolation is they
don't tear as much stuff up.
 
Team Penske said:
Cars raced at Bristol for 50 years, why do they need to add a glue to help them race now??
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Because they screwed up the banking and have yet to fix it. Ever since the progressive banking was installed Bristol has never been the same. I know they have shaved down some of the progressive banking but there is still some in the track which I think allows for the high lane to exist, but the low lane wouldn't exist if the VHT weren't used. UGH! haha
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
The racing that I got to watch @ Bristol was pretty good IMO. VHT, no VHT..... Whatever. I'm a fan of multiple lanes @ Bristol. I like to see them race rather than punt the other cars out of the way. I'm also okay with being in the minority on that.
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I have no problem with them punting each other. It's the resulting 15+ laps of lost racing while they clean up that frosts my shorts.
 
LouieLouie said:
I'm not sure how everyone else feels but I thought the racing at Bristol was pretty good this weekend. There seemed to be some side by side racing and cars seemed to be able to pass one another. There is still room for improvement but overall I thought it was one of the better races of the year.
That being said, I thought it was a subpar Bristol race, meaning that the typical frustration of the drivers didn't seem to exist and of course there were no bump and runs. Overall it seemed like there was very little contact between cars.

So in summary, I thought it was good racing for NASCAR but not so good for Bristol. Also, I would like to see this kind of racing at the cookie cutters, but I want to see the bump and run/chrome horn at Bristol.

What say you? And am I crazy for thinking that we might be able to get back to that old style of Bristol racing with the bump and run?
Click to expand...

IMO Bristol ended when Bruton got a wild hair that the track needed to be changed. However I agree that last Saturday's race was pretty good so I am thankful for that but I still miss the days when Bristol featured racing the way it oughta be.
 
I prefer racing to wrecking, so I prefer Bristol with two viable grooves. Not easy to pass there - and passing ain't supposed to be easy - but it does need to be possible.

Having just one groove plus the chrome horn... that's a gimmick I don't like.
 
pretty simple if your paying attention. without VHT they all run at the top, almost impossible to pass without wrecking you or the guy you are trying to pass. They seem to be getting it figured out how much VHT to put down, both lanes were pretty close for the whole race. There was even three wide racing/passing. I went ahead and yelled Three Wide! in my best Rick Allen voice..just for old times sake.
 
Who'd a thunk applying hairspray and mousse to a track would have ever been thought of let alone done? IDK how they apply the sticky stuff but if they use one of these rigs it would be ironic.

th.jpg
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
Who'd a thunk applying hairspray and mousse to a track would have ever been thought of let alone done? IDK how they apply the sticky stuff but if they use one of these rigs it would be ironic.

View attachment 28931
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Oh, geez --- just sprayed good iced tea down the front of my shirt.
 
I don't move on to the next race until I see that week's radioactive. Dale Jr this week made lmao
 
My favorite... Ty Dillon cussing out his team for the pit penalty... pitting outside of the box. LOL.
 
Meh. Bristol is as good as it's ever been. It was never really that good until they got into the resurfacing and VHT and stuff.
 
Since they already poured all that money into Kansas with the casino, they should redo Chicagoland when the asphalt is done with.

Or build a track in Colorado or Seattle like they've been wanting to do for how long now? Surely there wouldn't be an attendance problem.
 
I thought it was a pretty decent race, but it did seem to lack some sort of flair. Need to keep working on that lower groove because predominantly single-file around the top is worse than single file around the bottom. I think the second reconfiguration in 2012 or whenever it was actually was a downgrade from the 2007(2008?)-2012 configuration.
 
Regarding Bristol, some parrot the Brian France line that the racing has never been better than today and trot out stats and anecdotes to bolster their case. I won't spend a minute to refute any of this as it is unimportant because people like what they like. I could make a case that Guinness is a much better beer than Miller Light or Bud Light but I bet those 2 sell a lot more suds than Guinness.

Did any cars last race even have the tell tale rubber donut where the numbers are affixed? Bristol used to be unique in a cool way as it was fun watching DW or Rusty follow a car around for a lap or 2 and then the next 2-3 laps start bumping the car and by the next lap they had rooted the car in front of them out of the way and it was taking the freight train to the back. It was racing the way it oughta be.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
Regarding Bristol, some parrot the Brian France line that the racing has never been better than today and trot out stats and anecdotes to bolster their case. I won't spend a minute to refute any of this as it is unimportant because people like what they like. I could make a case that Guinness is a much better beer than Miller Light or Bud Light but I bet those 2 sell a lot more suds than Guinness.

Did any cars last race even have the tell tale rubber donut where the numbers are affixed? Bristol used to be unique in a cool way as it was fun watching DW or Rusty follow a car around for a lap or 2 and then the next 2-3 laps start bumping the car and by the next lap they had rooted the car in front of them out of the way and it was taking the freight train to the back. It was racing the way it oughta be.
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Agreed I'm not a fan of all the wrecks and yellows but with Bristol it was exciting to see that twice a year. Now it's just another short track which isn't a bad thing but it's not the same Bristol.
 
LewTheShoe said:
I agree. I think it is ironic when people whine that Nascar has become a wreckfest - for example due to double file restarts - and then the next moment glorify "old Bristol" for the wrestling and wrecking. LMAO.
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It is a shame you have never been to Bristol as I am sure you would have enjoyed it in any configuration. IDK where you read that people complain that Nascar has become a wreck-fest but it must be on another forum as it isn't even a topic here. The only races I see where wrecks are even discussed much are the plate tracks and while some people don't care for them it is balanced out by the people that primarily only watch because of them. IDK if you ever saw the good old bump and run as it was a thing of beauty and the older drivers could execute it without wrecking the driver in front of them just like they knew how and where to bump draft at plate tracks. Cue up some Youtube videos and have some fun!
 
LewTheShoe said:
I agree. I think it is ironic when people whine that Nascar has become a wreckfest - for example due to double file restarts - and then the next moment glorify "old Bristol" for the wrestling and wrecking. LMAO.
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If people put up with plate races I don't see any reason to complain about short tracks like "old" Bristol. I'd have to agree with @StandOnIt and say this race was one of the best I've seen in a while. However, I still think it lacks the traditional character that it once had. To me it would be like them repaving Darlington and widening the track because it's too narrow. If they really want to start messing with tracks I would go for more Texas style repaves. Make the turns drive completely different.
 
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